5/03/2010 @ 1:00PM

TV's Biggest Moneymakers

A year ago this month Madison Avenue buyers didn’t know what to make of Fox’s musical dramedy Glee. Falling outside clearly defined genres–was it a musical? A comedy? A drama?–advertisers were hesitant to bet on it.

The show, which has seen its recent ratings skyrocket care of its spring lead-in American Idol, is now a pop culture phenomenon, complete with chart-topping music and a hotly anticipated concert tour. But because of those early misgivings, it averaged only $1.4 million in ad revenue per half-hour in 2009, putting the series at an unimpressive 45th place among all network shows on our list of TV’s Biggest Moneymakers.

To determine which series generated the most advertising revenue in 2009, we turned to the data crunchers at Kantar Media, who tracks ad spending, among other metrics. The firm surveyed all regularly scheduled prime-time shows, excluding sports franchises, for our third annual version of the list. For an apples-to-apples comparison of network programs of differing lengths, the series are ranked based on ad revenue per average 30 minutes.

To be sure, the revenue figures provided are estimates. The amount individual buyers actually forked over for their collection of 30-second spots varies, depending on advertisers’ perceptions about a show’s value to their clout with the respective network. The broadcast networks’ continued viewership declines along with a recessionary marketplace factored into the decision-making process as well. What’s more, this list doesn’t factor in the millions spent to produce and license these shows.

Once again, ratings juggernaut American Idol on the
News Corp.
Fox channel scored the top spot on our list. The singing competition, now in its ninth season, continues to average some 25 million viewers each week, according to the Nielsen Co. As a result advertisers desperate to capture their attention collectively shelled out $32.4 million for a two-hour episode, or $8.1 million per 30 minutes. Of course, whether the long-running singing competition can maintain that audience interest–and the commercial fees that accompany it–in the wake of superjudge Simon Cowell’s departure next year remains to be seem.

Coming in second is the only sitcom on the list, the long-lived
CBS
laugher Two and a Half Men, currently in its seventh season. What the comedy lacks in critical acclaim it makes up for in audience size–and media buyers’ desire to court its viewers. Thus far this season, the show has charmed 14.8 million viewers per show, making it the top-rated comedy on the air. According to Kantar, the Charlie Sheen star vehicle generated $3.1 million, on average, per half-hour show.

Of course, like Idol, the comedy is at risk of losing its star. Sheen’s contract is up at the end of the current season, and though many dismiss it as a negotiating tactic, he has publicly said he’d be OK not returning to the show. In a statement issued to People in mid-April, he said that if that evening’s season finale taping is the end for me as Charlie Harper, so be it. He continued, I take from the experience 161 shows filled with a kaleidoscope of amazing experiences, memories, friendships and gratitude. I remain humbly inspired.

Fox’s 24 rounds out the top three on our list of prime time’s top moneymakers. The long-running drama may be losing buzz–the current season will be the show’s last–but advertisers are still eager to pay up: a single episode (comprising an hour in Jack Bauer’s high-voltage world) generated $6 million, on average, for the year.

With the exception of newcomer V, our list is populated by long-running hits. The reason: Unlike established programs, which have the benefit of a viewer track record, new shows trade on expectations, and as Kantar Media Senior Vice President of Research Jon Swallen explains, “Expectations typically sell at a discount to proven performance.”

Since as much as 80% of ad-buying decisions are made ahead of the actual TV season, the majority of purchases hinge on anticipation and past performance rather than actual in-season ratings. The result: In a matter of weeks price tags for this past season’s unexpected freshman hits like Glee will soar, while new bargains present themselves as the networks trot out their latest additions to next falls schedule in the annual ad bazaar known as the television upfronts.

When it comes to new series, media buyers are forced to rely on differentiators like night of the week (Thursday nights, for instance, are more desirable than Friday nights, and are thus more expensive), expected demographic (shows that skew younger tend to be more attractive) and the newcomer’s lead-in show (or shows, in the case of a programming block like Fox’s Sunday-night animation domination).

But in some cases, advertiser enthusiasm and viewer enthusiasm simply don’t match up.

Consider fifth-place V, for which the former trumped the latter. Unfortunately for the enthusiastic buyers who collectively shelled out $5.6 million per hour-long telecast, the remake of a popular 1980s miniseries shed more than a third of its audience over the course of its truncated fall run, from an impressive 14.3 million viewers on premiere night to only 9.1 million four weeks later. Ordinarily that would lead to a pricing correction for subsequent in-season (or scatter market) purchases, says Swallen, “but since V was a limited-run series, it was insulated from potential pricing adjustment.”

Still more upsetting for advertisers and network programmers alike: Since the series returned in mid-March, it has continued its spectacular decline. Despite its plush positioning behind the final season of Lost (No. 8 on the list), V has lured an audience about a third of its original size.